Development of therapeutic active ingredients from by-products

Globally, there will be over 2Bn people over the age of 65 by 2060 making this demographic the world’s fastest growing age-group.  Unsurprisingly there will be a corresponding increase of 68% in the incidence of sarcopenia which is the age-related loss of muscle-mass and function (i.e. frailty).  Primary sarcopenia is one of the leading causes of the loss of independence and of hospitalisations in the elderly, often due to weakness-exacerbated falls.  In the UK the cost to the NHS of musculoskeletal decline is estimated at £5.7 billion and in the United States, sarcopenia costs are estimated at $18.5 billion annually. [100 words]

With the previous support of two InnovateUK grants, we have developed a versatile technology platform to create bioactive peptides from high-protein agri-food sources.  We focus on circular economy by-products to take advantage of low-cost and abundant feedstocks such as rapeseed meal and cake and will valorise spent brewing grain and yeast.  Bioactive peptides are known to have many different physiological functions beneficial to human health and each starting ‘protein’ will create a unique peptide ‘fingerprint’ particular to that starting material.

The bioavailability of bioactive peptides offers a unique avenue for enhancing human health.  In breakthrough studies, Valogen’s PhytoPep™ has been shown in in vitro studies with a leading University bioenergetics group to stimulate human muscle cell mitochondrial expression of ATP in a statistically significant, dose-dependent fashion even in the absence of an energy demand (i.e. exercise) aligning it as a potential exercise ‘mimetic’.  This effect is unprecedented especially for an affordable nutritional ingredient in light of large pharma companies spending millions to develop new blockbuster drugs to combat muscle loss.

The compatibility of PhytoPep™ in different foods enables it to fortify day-to-day foods that seniors are happy to eat or included in supplements such as drinks, shakes and chewables.

The rapeseed feedstock for our production of PhytoPep™ is abundantly available with over 450,000 tonnes of cold-pressed rapeseed cake produced in the UK alone every year.  We are building our network of farm-suppliers to create a robust supply chain and will expand our manufacturing into North America, where rapeseed, known as Canola, is produced at enormous scales.  Our patent application for the production of Phytopep™ with corresponding muscle health benefits, has been fast-tracked through GB examination and we expect the patent to grant later in 2025.

The scalability of the muscle health opportunity is almost unfathomable, whether it be age-related sarcopenia or athletic strength. Additionally, the rise of the use of GLP-1’s is known to cause muscle loss with and estimated 40% of achieved weight loss due to muscle wastage. Pharmaceutical companies are racing to develop drugs that will counteract this loss of muscle and the market for such GLP-1 ‘companion’ products has been estimated to reach ≥$30BN by 2035. Valogen is en route to achieving this same muscle-maintenance effect via a simpler nutritional route, and what makes it more surprising is that it is from a by-product of the agri-food industry that is otherwise fed to cows or discarded.